Deception (Absent Shadows Trilogy Book 3) Read Free

thought you never liked David?’
    ‘Well, I’m just saying … he seems to be quite settled down now. And I never said I didn’t like him, I just didn’t want you to rush into anything. He says he’s still crazy about you,’ she winked as she added this last bit.
    ‘Mom, I’m in love with Sam. You know … my husband … the man to whom I’ve sworn eternal love … remember him? I thought you liked Sam?’
    ‘I do like Sam, of course. But, how can I say this without upsetting you?’ she hesitated, looking around the room as if for inspiration. ‘Look, he’s a vampire. And as much as I like him, and I know that you love him, well … if you were to, shall I say, move on with your life … it wouldn’t be such a bad thing, now would it?’
    ‘Mom! Please, don’t go there. Really .’
    ‘Okay, okay. I’m just saying David came around; he was polite; Ceylona seemed quite taken with him. So there—that’s all.’
    ‘Well, I’m glad that’s all. Seriously, Mom, I have no interest there. None whatsoever.’
    She winked at me, and I glared back at her, but then she laughed, and so did I. I guess she was just testing me. Maybe. Whatever it was, I just hoped David wouldn’t make a nuisance of himself.
    ~~***~~
    At the end of March, Claire came up for spring break.
    ‘So, where’s Shane? Did he come up with you?’ I asked when she arrived at the house.
    ‘He’s … well, to be perfectly honest, I don’t know where he is. And I don’t really care,’ she replied.
    ‘Oh, I’m sorry Claire. I didn’t realise. Did you have a fight or something?’
    ‘No … well, sort of … maybe. I mean, he’s just so boring. All he wants to do is surf and drink beer.’
    Another one bites the dust, I thought to myself. Well, it wasn’t the end of the world. There was a plethora of gorgeous young men there in Southern California, and it wouldn’t be long before someone else caught her eye.
    ‘Besides, I’m thinking I’ll go home for the summer break—I’ll get to see Tom. I still miss him, you know. I just can’t seem to meet anyone who measures up to him.’
    Yeah, well, any wonder I thought to myself. And I also wondered what Claire would think, if I told her the truth. Would she be excited? Or would she be afraid? The former, I suspected. She’d probably think it was fabulous, and be pissed-off with me for keeping the truth from her for so long. I’d probably tell her someday, but not unless there was no way around it. But still, if she was going to see Tom, maybe she’d see Sam too.
    ‘I wonder if you’ll see Sam while you’re there,’ I said, trying not to sound too excited. After all, we were separated as far as Claire knew.
    ‘Yeah, probably … and I’ll tell him he’s a fool for letting you slip away. But he probably knows that already. I bet he wishes he’d treated you better. You know, you never did tell me what broke you two up?’
    ‘Didn’t I?’
    ‘No, I’m sure you didn’t.’
    ‘Well … I suppose it was just that we’d rushed into the marriage so quickly … you know. That … and I guess I missed home … and my family.’
    ‘Yeah?’ she sighed, then her face went a bit ethereal and her eyes seemed to have lost all focus as she whispered, ‘I guess I get it … but still … there is something about them, isn’t there?’
    ‘Yeah, there sure is,’ I said, trying to fight off feelings of guilt. Maybe I owed her the truth—she was one of my closest friends after all, and she was pretty involved in their world, even if only on the periphery. I swallowed, and started to speak, but my voice wouldn’t come. No, this wasn’t just my secret. I didn’t have a right to tell Claire any of it. Not even that Ceylona was my daughter. She thought Ceylona was my little sister, and as guilty as I felt for letting her think that, telling her the truth would only lead to more questions.
    Then she saved me. ‘Hey, I’ve got a great idea. Let’s go bowling! We haven’t been in like,